Try going offline with Google Maps

ORLANDO, Fla. – I knew I wouldn’t get real-time traffic information and other features when I opted to rely solely on Google’s offline mapping capabilities for a week in and around Disney World near Orlando, Florida. In fact, Google Maps gave me trouble the moment I tried to leave the airport parking lot.

But things got much smoother after that. It wasn’t exactly painless; while I mostly got where I needed to go, it sometimes came at the cost of delays that had nothing to do with traffic. But being able to navigate with no cellular connection certainly beat getting lost because I had no signal.

How it works

You might not realize this, but mobile mapping apps typically still can direct you even if you lose your cellular connection; their turn-by-turn voice prompts can tap GPS location information when cellular signals aren’t available (though with less precision than having both).

It’s still a bit like wandering around in the dark: The apps can’t display a map for you without downloading it first, and they need an Internet connection for that. They also can’t reroute you if you make a wrong turn.

That’s where Google Maps’ offline features come in. You simply download mapping data for a given area ahead of time. That gives you local maps to enable GPS-based navigation. The downloaded data also includes enough information on nearby shops and other businesses so you simply can give the app the name of your destination rather than a specific address. If you’re old-school, you even could use these maps to find your way around as you would with traditional paper maps.

For this test, I used a Samsung Android phone with its cellular service turned off. The Google Maps iPhone app also offers offline access.

Early mishaps

In the Orlando airport’s rental-car parking deck, Google Maps found my first destination easily. Trouble was, it didn’t know where to start. Google Maps was designed for parking garages with spotty cellular connection. Here, though, the GPS signal also was terrible; the app thought I still was in New York. I had to walk over to an exit ramp to find a clear GPS signal. I also couldn’t request a route without highways or tolls, as Google Maps allows in normal use.

Other limitations

With no real-time traffic data, you don’t get alternate directions if there’s unusual congestion ahead. Information on businesses also is limited; you get contact information and hours of operations, but not customer reviews.

You also can’t use offline features for mass transit, walking or biking. It’s for driving only, and if you try to use it as a pedestrian, it might send you down an interstate shoulder. (We don’t recommend that.)

I knew all that ahead of time. But there still were two big surprises:

• I wasn’t able to search businesses by type, such as gas stations. I tried typing big gas-station brands such as “Chevron” and “Exxon,” but found only ones several towns away. I had to slide the map around until I found what looked like a gas station near the airport.

• When offline, you miss hints about which lane you need, such as the second lane from the right if you need to steer left just after taking an exit ramp.

Overall satisfaction

Downloads weren’t oppressive. A standard download covering greater Orlando took up about 130 megabytes, the equivalent of a minute of high-definition video. Expanding that to about 500 megabytes gave me the option to drive to either coast of Florida, including Kennedy Space Center about an hour away. A cross-country trip easily can fill your phone, though.

Google Maps isn’t the first to offer offline capabilities on iPhones and Android devices, but other offline apps I’ve tried cost money and weren’t easy to use.

Notwithstanding a few mishaps, Google Maps is both free and reliable.